[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> next from the conference in iowa a forum on jobs creation. after that, a forum focusing on women who are part of the protest. then remarks by the iraqi ambassador to the united states. . .

this group was created by iowa republican congressman steve keen to encourage " constitutional conservatives to run for elected office." this panel focuses on how to cut federal spending, creating jobs and improving the economy. this is about one hour and five minutes. >> this morning we will move into one of our morning panels. it is my pleasure to introduce the panelist on transforming america. each brings a unique perspective on how to dismantle big government and reestablished relationships between the citizen and his government.

i like to introduce maryland record -- marylin from illinois. [applause] next up, we were going to have mike george, a founder of strong american now. unfortunately he could not be here. last-minute family issues. we're going to welcome an executive director with strong america now peter or. he is a navy and air force veteran. after serving over 12 years on active duty, he joined by george at the george group serving government clients within the department of defense helping to eliminate waste and reduce costs. he hopes of ba in political science and an m.a. in logistics

in the air force institute of technology. please welcome peter or'rourke. next right to work is a group that has an incredible work here in iowa, fighting the push to repeal our status as a right to work state. he has helped to fight against compulsory unionism. please welcome greg. [applause] our fourth speaker is the president of citizens united and citizens united production, a conservative grass-roots

organization with five under thousand members and supporters nationwide. citizens united made history last year with their victory at the supreme court which reinstated first amendment rights for those previously barred from participating in the political process. this victory level the playing field to from the big spending liberals and unions and has been called one of the most important cases in u.s. history. they produce 17 politically acclaimed documentaries including "ronald reagan -- rendezvous with destiny" and "rediscovering god and ameritech," with newt gingrich, screened here last night. please welcome david. [applause] this morning, we will hear we will hear five-seven minutes

of remarks from each of our panelists, and then move to questions. first i would like to welcome marilyn. >> hello. i'm here to talk to you about a topic he may not think about liberty and taxation. wait a second. that seems like an oxymoron, right? under current tax system, it is absolutely true. i am here to challenge you today -- who should control your life for the mark should be the government using the tax code to decide what kind of clout for you do or do not buy? or are you in charge of your own life? i am here to talk to you about the fairtax bill. h.r. 25, it will give you control of your own life back. but say it passes today. what would be the first thing

you would notice? in your paycheck, you would find it is a lot bigger. there would be no longer federal taxes taken out of your check. imagine that. you get the check before the government gets it. in america imagine that. ok, your check would be bigger. that is good. the next thing you might notice is what we call our freebate. it is a rebate on what you spend up to the poverty level. you can buy a when you need for your family or yourself to live. you have that money to pay for it. why don't we do it in cash? let's say you're going to go to work in new go out there in your battery is dead in your car. on that day, at that time at that place it is a necessity for you. you want to cash in your hand to

pay your taxes to buy that battered. that month mib shoes for the kid. we all have our emergencies and our own necessities. it is for you beer and bowling, it is america. go ahead and have your beer and bold. these things we need to consider about liberty. we also have the freedom to choose how much taxes we are going to pay. the fairtax is a tax on consumption at the retail level. when you go by a good service you pay your tax and it will be over. the records to keep, nothing to report to the irs ", as a matter of fact -- the irs has gone under our tax bill. [cheers and applause] we figure the states are

perfectly capable of collecting any type of consumption or sales tax. we do not need the irs and they do not need to know your business. they will no longer know who you work for, how much money you make, how much you spend on the doctor bill -- is none of their business. you make a purchase for a new good or service, pay your tax it is over. there are some people who complain about this. there are people who feel that the government should run your life. that you would not make the best choices for yourself. these of the people who like the income tax, basically. under the fairtax, you can decide what you're going to buy. if you buy a brand new big fancy car, you'll pay a lot of air attacks. you spend $100,000 on a cart, you will pay a lot. you buy and normal, like most of us not so much. you buy a used car, there is no

fairtax on it. the rate on the fairtax is 15% covers all income taxes capital gains, and gift taxes, all the things that we consider under income taxes. 8% covers medicare and social security. for most people, that would be paying less in taxes because more people would actually be paying the tax. for example you may be up to midnight on april 14 trying to get to a tax forms done. i don't think your neighborhood drug dealer it is filling out his taxes on what he made of cocaine sales this year. [laughter] the same thing with drug runners and pornographers. everybody pays, even the foreign visitors to our shores. these are just a few of the great things about the fairtax. we have a group out in a hallway that was like to answer all of

your questions. congressman king is a co-sponsor of the fairtax bill and we are grateful. he also has a bill, house joint resolution 16, the amendment to repeal the 16th amendment which would make the irs and the income tax go away for good. [cheers and applause] >> thank you. next up, we are happy to welcome peter, who did a last-minute change to be with us here, from strong american now. >> i was actually wearing jeans and a t-shirt and they told me to change. i offer my apologies for my boss who wanted to be here but unfortunately that called back to family issues. you get me this morning. i will talk to you about is an issue that we all recognize him

as part of the debate right now on the news and the monks are politicians. our debt and our deficits. the significant issue being added to come up raising the debt ceilings. it is one of those things that we have to address and we have to address now. at strong america now, what we are trying to do is raise the awareness on solutions to our deficits, our annual spending rate and bring a reasonable approach to that into the debate. that is why we are here in iowa and some of the other states to talk to folks about what we can do about that. just to let you know little bit about strong american now. we are here in iowa building a grass-roots organizations, and focused on getting volunteers and other folks here to help us get out this message that there is another way along with cutting programs and all the other things we know need to be

addressed, was also security, medicare medicaid, all the mandatory spending cuts. there is other ways, and that is addressing the issue of waste. we've been talking about fraud waste, and abuse for a long time. i'm sure a lot of people here, but that is not what we are talking about. there is the ways that we identify with in the federal government that is really more systematic. it is frustrating. i have been in the air force and navy and actually worked with the army and a little bit on improving their processes and effectiveness. each time, what i would find is examples of the growth of an organization for the growth of the mission, and we would find that as that would grow, some waste-like activity would start to appear. we would work with these organizations and find that at a minimum, about 25% of the work they would do did not contribute

to what they were trying to get done. but the military, that is a big deal. you think about soldiers and sailors and marines spending 25% of their time doing things that did not help them get to where they wanted to go. we were effective working with them. we had a lot of success working on different key programs, helping to reduce their costs. with help them improve their effectiveness, but internally, we found that we were helping them reduce the amounts of time and money that they spend to get these done. one example of that that we've been telling folks about, but really brings it home for everybody. you remember early on in the iraqi war, even in afghanistan we had a problem with improvised explosive devices. he pretty nasty not a great thing to beat around if you are over there. taking a lot of lives. it was a serious problem for the pentagon trying to address that.

we had the technology, but the mine-protective vehicles, very effective, but the only problem we had was to get that out to the field. he had a group within the navy working on producing does. unfortunately, they were only able to get five of those produced per day and shipped over. that was not going to make the production rates that we needed. the navy as a group of waste reduction expert to go in and help the group. they did and were able to raise the production up to at least 54 per day. they're all to get up to 68 per day, getting those out. [applause] it is a great story, thank you. the key part was that they did this by focusing on the processes and they were able to do that without increasing any

costs, without adding new materials are techniques. and without any new labor. in effect, they were able to get exponential increases in effectiveness there without any new costs. it resulted in a 90% cost reduction if you look at the amount of time it was taking to get those done. it was a great story. it shows that this idea that we can look at government and government operations differently, it really works. at strong american now, we are trying to convince our elected leaders, those who like to be elected, that this is a process that they need to take seriously and consider and implement at their level. that is what we're doing here in iowa. we appreciate your time. how we're doing that is having folks signed our pledge and building a constituency there. if you see one of these sign the pledge, learn more about strong american know and the

waste reduction process and, and any questions, we will take later. thank you. [applause] >> thank you peter. i'm happy to welcome to the microphone greg. >> i am glad to be here. the single most important thing that i believe that we can do to turn this country around is repeal forced unionism. this is a gathering of conservatives. whatever issue brought you into this room, it taxes or abortion or guns, your adversaries, your political adversaries are funded and staffed by big labor costs forced unionism empire. all the polling shows that most union members do not agree with their union leadership's politics, but they are forced to

pay. because the union bosses have the ability to force their people to pay, they can promote whatever politics they want. as a result, we end up in a position where the unions are collecting the people -- electing the people and a direct position to reward them. we end up with a government out of control. the national right to work committee is an organization dedicated to a simple principle -- everyone has a right to join a union and no one should be forced to join a union or pay dues to a union or accept an unwanted union as their representative. their right to choose who will represent you is a fundamental one. even criminals get to choose their advocate. in a unionized workplace, you are stuck with that union as a bargaining agent, would you like their contract or politics are not. you're stuck with them. you have no choice. and then the unions turnaround

and demand that people pay for this so-called representation that people did not want, did not ask for and would get rid of it they could. in the private sector, the effects are dramatic. folks do not want to work in our environment and do not want to employ people in that environment. that is why the right to work states consistently outperform the non right to work states. as much damage as work union -- forced unionism has caused in the private sector, it is far far worse when you use a nap -- when you unionize the government sector. as soon as you unionize at a government were pious big letter because the mideast -- the most important force in governments. they have one driving interest -- the growth of government because that means the growth of their union and the growth of their dues. and they brag about their power to elect their own bosses. they end up in a situation where the labor is on both sides

of the bargaining table the employees and the employer they just elected. uc and of spiral and the cost of government, the size of the current, and a down spiral and the quality of service from government. that leads as to where we are today in the situation we're faced in communities across the country, on the verge of insolvency. some of actually gone under. mostly because they cannot afford these bloated union contracts that union elected politicians have happily signed off on. defend right to work laws in the united states. we're happy the work with congressman king and senator demint. on the state run, we have been in the thick of a lot of battles this last three months. [laughter] it has been exciting to say.

i have been beating the drum for 15 years and the organization has been here for 50. it is finally caught the public attention because of the crisis that the public sector the government sector unionism has brought on. we have an active efforts to pass right the work laws in many states. half a dozen other states. governors and legislatures have begun to see the economic harm and cost to their state of not being a right to work environment. one fellow i was in missouri with and testified at a hearing there, is a corporate relocation firm. he said that half of its manufacturing clients will not even consider and non-right to work state when they are looking for place to expand their operations or relocate. they write them off immediately. the other half still consider the lack of a right to work locked as a significant obstacle the needs to be overcome. the benefits of the right to

work states are absolutely enormous. at the same time, the national declined of unionism has changed even more dramatically. a few courageous governors and legislators, most noticeably in wisconsin, have begun the hard work for rolling back the monopoly bargaining power that they had given government unions which they never should have that in the first place. wisconsin is going further and would love to see them continue that effort. but scott walker has done there, and the legislature with them, has been amazing. especially in the face of the really really ugly as political tantrum that i have seen from by anybody in a generation. [applause] we compare that to indiana where we believe we're in a position and could still be in a position to pass a new state right to work law making in the

end of the 23rd right to work state. unfortunately, the huge pro- right to work majorities have been stymied by the lack of leadership from their speaker and their governor. they say that they support right to work, and both have done everything in their power to shoulder it aside in favor of other things this year. sadly, they put this in a position where the democrats have been able to plead the state. that has now become the single long as legislative walkout in the history of this country indian and going on right now and still not over. as they come back, we continue to press for. we will press for next year. the people of indiana want this and that their political leadership does not get that, their political leadership is going to learn differently. nothing that we can do in this country will have a greater impact than passing right to

work laws and rolling back forced unionism. taking away that forced dues pipeline that allows the left to constantly grow the size of government and elect their pet politicians that fight against everything that everybody in this room believes in, but as we have seen in wisconsin, big labor will not give up without a fight. they have profited leak in the project profited enormously by it and they will not give it up without a really ugly fight. it is going to take leaders with principal and leaders with courage. i hope that we get them. [applause] >> thank you. i'm happy to introduce our fourth panel the president of citizens united. [applause] >> thank you all for coming. i felt like making a joke that i

needed to announce for president but i think you get that all the time. [laughter] first i want to thank congressman steve king. [applause] first for putting on this important conference, so i ones can hear from the person who is going to defeat barack obama in 2012. [cheers and applause congressman team is a true conservative principled leader in washington d.c.. believe me, if the congress was filled with more people like steve king, this country would be a lot better off. [applause] after citizens united's historic

victory for free speech at the supreme court, barack obama nancy pelosi, harry reid, and the liberal media attack the citizens united decision at every turn. viciously so. our important when empowered voters by giving them additional information. that is what this was all about. in 2010, midterm elections the results of getting more information or evidence. the citizens united decision was a liberal incumbents's nightmare. no longer serve was the unions and the george soroses of the world controlling all the money in all the message. sweeping up the liberals in november was a huge victory and it really came down from the

citizens united decision. i want to give you background on the case. i do not think after a year of being attacked, anybody really understands what it was about. we produced a film in 2007 called "hillary." how many people here have heard of it? exactly. we made the film and we went to the federal elections commission, because people like michael more and the leftist the controlling hollywood elite made films attacking conservatives day in and day and out. that is the culture war that we're in, whether television of the movie theaters. we decided to take on michael more and decided to provide conservative content for a film. we made a film and i went to the

federal lessons commission and said, michael moore can do this, can we? they said, no, you cannot. i said, we get into the back forth into the wide, and they said look, little man, we are in charge and you, if you do it because you're a political organization, juneau we are doing, mccain-i find gfeingold did not just make it civil penalties, it made it criminal penalties. the lawyers told me that if we move forward with advertising our film he "hillary -- the movie," i could be charged and go to prison for five years per count. for making a movie. i thought we lived in the united states.

i was like, you are really joking. my wife would love to get credit me but not that way. i am not going to play your silly game. and i have always been one who is very forward-leaning, and believe that the best defense is a great offense. so i did not wait for the federal election commission to sue me. i sued them. [applause] and that is what is called citizens united v. the federal election commission, and not the other way around. i took the fight to them. i could not believe that the campaign finance law could prohibit us from promoting our film. if a law was that broad, what could the government not restrict us from doing? that was really my question. it took them to the court and

at the supreme court during oral argument, the solicitor general of the united states -- the deputy solicitor general representing the government and the obama administration said in open court that the government could ban books. and i said, while. if they have the position that they can ban books and movies, first, i said i think that just won the case. i am not sure but i think that just one. it looks like i'm going to get five of these guys to do not believe that the burning is what we do here in america. i went through that process. i could not believe that they did this. i said that the core of my argument has always been that the government was restricting our first amendment rights, and obviously we all know now a year later, that we won and the five

justices sided with us. the fallout -- i thought we won and it would be over and that was it. a week later the state of the union address, barack obama becomes unhinged. it was really quite fun to watch, but it was really unique. i've never seen anything like that before. i had never seen the pack of jackals that were the leaders of the house and senate standing up and applauding and cheering at the supreme court. it was a shameful moment. it was truly a shame for a moment. everyone remembers now because justice toalito who may be a conservative he voted with us, but that does not make these people bad guys. they attacked them viciously and demonize them. you have chuck schumer standing

over their shoulders jeering at the supreme court. a shameful moment, but it goes to what they are about. there were just talking about this. this is what they did. they want civil discourse on one side unless they do not agree with you on the other. then they are willing to break your head. it is a remarkable thing to live through. the liberals in congress knew from our decision that the clock was ticking. they understood the danger that their socialist agenda was then. they of course when for new legislation immediately to try to offset the citizens united decision. house and senate leaders got together and came up with this disclose act which congressman king was a leader on opposing. it is deceptively named because it was an incumbent protection

plan, to protect their socialist agenda and to protect nancy pelosi and her minions in the house of representatives. thankfully that legislation failed, and so did the democrats. the left did not focus on the real issues like jobs and the economy and are unbelievable crushing debt, and instead they played these political gains. and so the american people just washed them away. it was an amazing thing to watch on election night. i did not know that we could take over the house. i was around in 1994 and you could see that coming for a little bit of time. the way that newt and tom delay and dick armey had been laying the groundwork. there is an amazing moment when

the american people stood up and said enough is enough. we are taking our country back. i always like to quote president reagan when he was fighting the soviet union. he had one philosophy -- we win, you lose. [applause] he is so great. boy, don't we wish we had a guy like him around today. i think newt said that president obama was a spectator-in- chief. this is a dangerous world and he is out to lunch. in libya he is traveling to south america and is filling out as college basketball bracket. but he is not leading.

i said to someone this morning maybe just maybe hillary clinton was right when she had that 3:00 a.m. phone call, remember that ad? that phone is still raining. and he actually said, that's an interesting point. hillary clinton pointed out that being a community organizer before you are a state senator in the most corrupt state in the country, maybe it is not the way to breed presidents. that background does not necessarily the gatt world leadership, and i think we're seeing that -- does not necessarily beget world leadership, and i think we're seeing that. president obama loved his nobel peace prize. and all the european accolades but at the end of the day, he just has to remember that he is the president of united states,

not the prime minister of france or the hair of the debt -- or the head of the arab league. president obama in my opinion does not believe in american exceptionalism. we are without question the greatest nation this world has ever known. and president reagan -- [applause] we are what president reagan said we are that shining city on a hill. in the first months of his presidency, barack obama as we all remember when on his world apology tour. he goes to europe and it goes to cairo, egypt of all places, to try to convince the world and world leaders that he is different. he is different than that bad guy president bush, and he is trying to convince everybody. we all see how that is working out for us.

the aimless state of affairs of our farm policy is truly truly deadly. his failures in iran, in yemen are catastrophic. turning our greatest ally, israel into not so much of an alliedy. he is putting us all in my opinion in grave danger and that is why we are all here today. one of the most important things that i think was said recently putting foreign-policy as i, was by the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, admiral mike mullen. he said that the gravest threat -- whatour greatest threat to our country is? who said it?

our debt. the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said that our unsustainable $14.2 trillion debt is our greatest adversary. that is a military -- that is the head of the military making a statement like that, very telling. almost as telling as secretary gates saying about libya, we've never done anything like this on the fly before. i'm sorry, libya has been our enemy for 25 years. i'm sure there are contingency plans back there somewhere. why is this been done on the fly? this is an administration without any adult leadership, without any principles, without any vision of what america is about. let's talk about our sprawling debt for a minute. i call it the secret entitlement

program that the obama administration does not want to talk about. this entitlement program does not deal with medicare and medicaid. it does not deal with social security. it is with one function, and that is, to pay interest to the foreign governments that bankroll our debt. and according to president obama's own budget figures and i cannot even really believe that bill is still with them, the interest payments on our national debt will quadruple from $187 billion in 2009, to $770 billion in 2020. that is just the interest on the debt. that will become $2,500 for every man, woman, and child in the united states, just to

service the debt for a year. those are scary numbers. that is the equivalent of people with huge credit card bills. we have all been there. we all had these huge credit card bills that we build up for christmas and what have you. you're trying to pay it down and you get caught into the cycle. you're only paying the interest in you cannot get the principal town. -- you cannot get the principle down. you definitely cannot run a country that way. you have to remember that the $770 billion as for 2020, that his own numbers are projecting for the debt service, it only pays down the interest. it does not even touch the

principle. that is the sustainability of the bill. it is really are remarkable problem that we are and and we are headed into. that is why am so grateful that congressman king holds these types of events. it is vital that we hear from people who are going to be able to take him on. i am the father of four kids. i am desperately worried that i am going to lead a nation and i think the rest of you are as well that is not as great as well-off as we found it, as our parents gave to us. and that is a tragedy, a tragedy -- not because we are not all working hard. we are all providing for our families and paying our taxes and working to make a living and make ends meet. it is irresponsible and

unconscionable out of control spending in washington -- and by the way we have to hold -- that is why i love congressman king. he and michele bachman and a few others, very few i might add have the courage to stand up to our own leadership to say we didn't come here to continue this problem. we're not kicking the can down the road. we are dealing with it now because we may not have a choice later. these are great problems that we have today. it is march 2011. it feels like march 1979 to may. when jimmy carter was president, our american ship was adrift in our cap and was a wall.

-- and our captain was awol. the price of gas was skyrocketing and the unemployment rate was staggering, to say the least. it feels like america is in a rut like when jimmy carter was in president because of barack obama. i just feel like we will hear a malaise speech coming on. america is ready for new leadership, ready for president who will lead the world and inspire our fellow countrymen. i think in 2012, real change is coming. thank you all very much. [applause] >> you've all been sitting there patiently. you look like you have something to say. we will move into the audience participation part of the program. we will have two of our staffers

coming down the aisle with microphones. go ahead and raise your hands if you have a question. it will seek you out. if you do have a question, address it to a specific panelist, or to the general identify that it is for everyone to answer. we will take our turn going back and forth. we will allow 20 minutes. i will leave it to kathy in scott to tell me where i am going. speak clearly into the microphone, please. >> you are talking about the prebate. could you explain more about that and the exact numbers? >> thanks for that question. it is a rebate of what you spend up to the poverty level. it is only for citizens and legal residents. if you're a visitor or illegal alien, you would not be eligible for the prebate.

the health and human services department puts out the poverty level every year. by definition, it is what it cost for you to buy the necessities of life for whatever your family sizes. we would rebate that month at the beginning of each month to have the money to pay debt. it is dependent on families sizes, and we make a slight adjustment with the poverty level. there is a marriage penalty. we have adjusted the prebate to eliminate the marriage penalty. this way you can buy your necessities of life tax-free and you get to decide what your necessities of life are, not the government telling you what your necessities are. >> thank you. >> i like to address this to ma

rilyn and david. newt got up and reference to reaganomics. it was a 25% cut across the board on taxes, if i remember. the fairtax, h.r. 27, which has been there for a dozen years now, no one will bring it to the floor to the debate, cuts taxes 100% across the board and makes it permanent by eliminating the 15th amendment. what politician including newt could say that that is wrong? >> in my opinion not enough politicians say that i have enough backbone to support it. that is one of the big problems. [applause] we have too many politicians and lobbyists and so far making tons

of money off of the tax code. we have to make sure that our voices have been heard not just the lobbyists who write the checks. hopefully with your help, which you call your congressman and your senators and your mayor and anyone else you can think of, and ask them to support the fairtax, h.r. 25. >> mr. bossie had to step off the panel. any other questions? >> marilyn, how does this work with business expenses? does this mean with the poverty deal coming you have to file returns? >> prebate you have stepped file a form saying here i am coming here is my family, here is where to send the money. that is all it takes for the prebate.

for business, that their tax makes america the safe haven of the world as far as taxes. we do not play the games like you may have heard about this morning, where big businesses can buy tax loopholes for themselves all small businesses are stuck paying the heavy taxes. not only of the taxes that, but the compliance costs what it costs you to have lawyers and accountants and all the things you need to even file your taxes, a huge burden especially on small business. in the and end, who pays the taxes for business? you do. who pays the compliance costs? you do. you pay it in the higher cost, or if you have your money in stock markets or retirement accounts, your stock is worth less. you are actually paying for it

all. we stop the games. you're only responsible for your own taxes on what you purchase. >> thank you. >> i have a fair tax question. my one concern is how you -- i. 22% kicked around is the number. god forbid that you lose the house and the democrats come in and all the sudden the fairtax is 35%? >> the constitution does give the congress the power to set the tax rate. there are certain things within the tax code. first of all the class warfare is dead because the government no longer picks winners or losers so that they can reward their friends and punish their enemies. if they raise the tax, they raise it on 100% of the american people.

that makes a really difficult. i have one congressman who literally threw himself back in the tax and says we can never rates taxes again. not unless you ever really good reason. rigid you had a really good reason. >> this could be for peter and greg. i am a state senator here in iowa, and we are right to work state. i am very glad of that. our house is tried to pass a bill that dealt with our chapter 20 union associations. it was dead on arrival in our senate. how can we use that message to make a leaner state government when we have such strong public unions? how can you work with that or are rounded to make it more effective and more efficient? >> will we have found and my

experience working with the federal government, a lot of the manufacturing depots that to a lot of our work, most of them are unionized. even in the private sector, when you introduce something like waste reduction that is the initial reaction, an attack on jobs and attack on a union. that seems to be overcome as you work with them to understand what the overall goals are. within the federal government, i've not seen any reduction of jobs. i've seen a lot of reduction in waste and leading to a shrinkage of a mission but not the cuts of jobs. we've been able to work with the unions to get them to understand what the overall strategy is and get them on board. especially in an environment where there is a strong union you have to get them on board very quickly in understand this is not about them.

this is about survivability on the private sector said. and on the government side, it is dealing with a under capability that they may have. it is about generating new capability. we've always found it to be fairly successful. you get some roadblocks but you have to work through them. >> long term, and your fundamental problem, the fact that you have a unionized government work force has not gone away. you need to deal with that problem. the monopoly bargaining system was designed for the private sector or market forces are in play to keep everybody's demands reasonable. in the government sector, it is hard to drive the government out of business or drive those jobs offshore. nothing holds them in check it especially when they elect their own bosses. you need to be in a position where your electric realizes that the monopoly bargaining

system does not fit the government sector. who were they organizing against? the general public. this is not some mean-spirited employer with a profit margin. they are organizing against the taxpayer. when franklin roosevelt created the national labor board, he thought that this was unthinkable. even union leadership as what is the 1970's but that unionizing the government would never work. we need to get back to a place where people understand that unionizing the government is a recipe for disaster. [applause] >> my question is for everybody. my name is jason and i've served in the number of different positions as the president of young republicans vice- president of the republican executive committee there.

as much involvement as i can get with the schedule that i have going on. one thing i have always tried to address and i would like to get your opinion on, when i get asked everytime what can we do -- that is the main thing i like to know and everybody would like to know. what exactly can we do? when you have a government stomping at the constitution of the same time, he was completely clear that we did not want obamacare. we still got it. it was completely clear that we do not want all the stuff that they are shoving down our throats, but we're still getting a. what exactly can we did they will give us some kind of tangible result the says, look here, we are the ones in charge, not you. we are the balls not you. start doing what you're supposed to be doing. even now we won the election in november and we cannot get done what we need to do. what can we do it to go public from small-town kansas or iowa for across the country, how can

we do something? [applause] >> that is an excellent question. there are no trick plays. there is no immediate question. this is been a long time building in a long time fixing. this is the block and tackle of american politics. hold politicians accountable and replaced that politicians with a good politician. repeat the cycle. we have does this hold for a generation or two and it will take awhile to dig out and will take the level of intensity that we've seen from the tea party movement and others, it has to be maintained. we have to keep those people active. we have to keep them in the fight for more than one cycle. we need to keep those people engaged until the job is done. >> peter? >> i would agree with that.

that is what we're doing with strong american now and the rest of the organization to see out there, making an investment in that process. we're working day in and day out to raise the awareness just like the folks here are about these issues. hours is that deficit and debt issues and articulating that and raising awareness of the think and talk clearly to their elected officials and say this is important to me. could best way we have is the pledge. return those to us and then we take that back to the leaders of on a hill and say this is a sick never again issue. you need to pay attention and have a solution. it's great to identify and articulate the problem. if you do not come forward with a solution, it does not help. it gets you excited but it does not show real movement. that is what we're trying to support with our effort and throughout those unions and groups.

[applause] >> the fairtax movement is a grassroots movement. we are all volunteers. we get to show up at great places like this and talk to you all about the fairtax. we are well organized. if you want to learn more information about the fairtax you can go to our informational site fairtax.org. if you decide that this is a good plan and you want to get involved, you can go to fairtax this designation -- fairtaxnation.com. some people say that we plan. the choice is yours. >> there are 20 states that are right to work states. >> 22. >> nearly half. what is down the road that is

likely and which ones? >> oklahoma was the last one. they passed a law into does someone. it was held up in the courts but has been in function since 2003. it had a dramatic impact for oklahoma's economy. they went from last in the nation to top the list. next on debt, we had thought and expected to make indiana the 23rd right to work state. gov. daniels has been on helpful in that effort. we continue to try that. i think it is the most likely stay to go next. there is a number of other very exciting opportunities. missouri has a right to work bill. they are interested in it. there is a government. they can veto it. we do not think that we can override. that becomes an issue in the next gubernatorial race, and that could possibly be in a position where we replace a bad

politician with a good one or convincing a bad politician to go good. i will take it either way. if you learn to vote right i will learn to live with it. we have another situation in new hampshire, it passed the house this year for the first time i can recall. it is going to the senate in the near future. we have a governor there that will veto it. we'll make another run at it. we have large majorities, maybe not large enough but we will try. if he vetoes it, he will have to face the consequences. gov. la page in maine has been pushing on my right to work off. divinize strong group in the state percent. we will see how we did there. we will see some exciting things working there. michigan has a groundswell going. no one expected anything out of michigan in terms of right to work. but they have been hemorrhaging jobs in the last several years. folks on the ground in michigan

realize that they have to turn things around and get out from the thumb of the uaw. this exciting things happening on that front all around the country. >> my name is stephen. have a question for greta and peter. -- greg and peter. what about the repeal of the davis-bacon act. there's a similar law and the state of missouri which you are addressing. and then i have one more question for the fairtax issue. it is more of an observation. take away the power to write the tax code and you would give the power back to the people. and that is the situation that most people do not understand. and i would appreciate your responses. >> prevailing wage is a serious issue.

at the federal level, it is called davis-bacon, and in the states is called prevailing wage. the system is set up theoretically to in -- to enjoy a fair wage. they can be union wages. along with the union wage, the union work >> going through all that paperwork and tracking all of that is the unions. everybody else, the nonunion contractors try to make money and actually do their work. you end up with a situation where union elected bureaucrats are administering the system that basically forces anybody doing government contracting work to live by the union rules. it is not about the wages.

it is about the work rules. the wages are not that much better for these union guys. often they are worse. you have one guy that is allowed to do this thing and not allowed to do that thing. he is allowed to dig a ditch but not allowed to into a trash can. it is crazy the lack of flexibility. prevailing wage laws are a disaster everywhere they have been introduced. that make everything the government does more expensive and they do nothing to ensure labor peace which is what they theoretically impose it for. the history of rick -- a prevailing wage laws is interesting. they were originally introduced to stop minorities from moving up in to the north and taking a white jobs away. that is where they came from. that is the history there. it was the unions trying to protect themselves from non- union workers.

>> what we have seen when we work with government agencies and the ones that are highly unionized and have a lot of work rules is that that flexibility that lack of flexibility is very apparent. what we have been able to find is once we have been able to show that and show how that inflexibility affects the cost of government, we would call that waste, it does not have any constituency at that point. everybody agrees or most everybody agrees certainly the folks having to pay that cost agrees that we need to do something about that. we found that really proves to not just the folks advocating for the union side of this or the management side, that change needs to happen. we believe that fundamental change needs to happen on how we approach those issues.

>> just addressing a fair tax issue for one second, the founding fathers were smart enough. they did not allow an income tax in the original constitution. they took the 16th amendment to burden us with that kind of tax and we have the power to remove it. it is up to us. [applause] >> the question is for maryland. right now, we do enjoy the tax- deductible contributions. how does a fair tax handled that situation? >> this is a good one because this is what they are going to scare you with. a deduction is only good when you are taxed. if you are not taxed on something, you don't need a deduction. you make your house payment 100% tax free. you don't need a home mortgage deduction.

it give to your home -- to your church or nonprofit organization is 100% tax free. it is all just part of the game you are playing -- they are playing with you, and we want the games to stop. [applause] >> this will be our final question. >> i was a republican candidate in the last presidential election in iowa and new hampshire. i visited 140 towns in iowa and 100 in new hampshire. i placed 10th in both, in what they call an extremely long shot. [laughter] my question for the palin is a general question. the military and the catholic church have each existed across thousands of years in different cultures was about a dozen levels from priest to pope and private to general. how can we in some creative way reduce the level of bureaucracy

and our government which until that happens nothing intelligent will probably happen. >> i think have already answered that question a couple of times. the first thing have to do is get rid of the monopoly borrowing system within the government work force. before you do that, you cannot make any other changes because it is all controlled by this union contract that gives the unions all this extra power as opposed to all the rest of the citizen it ought to be dictating what the government spends its money on and how much it spends. instead we have a situation where the union sits across the bargaining table and they cook up the plan for what is going to be spent and what the bureaucrats are going to do. it is not democracy to give one particular of voice that much power as opposed to all the rest of us. >> i would agree with the premise there, having spent a

considerable amount of my career within the military and working for a lot of those folks. you do seem to have several different folks doing the same job, a lot of redundancies and waste. if we don't fundamentally change the way we view that, working with the other issues we have going on there, and address some of these issues of efficiency, there is really a lot of excuses made while we don't have that. coming from my environment, we have to have redundancy. that's why there are two different kinds of engines in military planes. we have to have so much more than we actually may need because there might be a contingency. in some cases that is true but in most cases is not especially on the business side of the federal government. we do a lot of things with a lot

of ignorance, and not stupidity. when we work with these folks we start revealing these redundancies and this waste. folks are more than willing to reduce that and get that out of the way. they just have to be let their and pushed their. that is why we are asking for this to become a national issue from a more executive side, to drive us through all these agencies enforce them to change the way they operate not just spend every dime they are given and then come up with new things for them to do to justify their existence. provide the goods services as cheaply as they can. if you are doing something the folks don't want you to do anymore, stop, and don't spend that money. that is where we are coming from. >> there are several studies about how much the tax code costs us. anywhere from $350 billion to

$500 billion a year is what it costs us to pay the tax. that is not the taxes, that is what it costs to file the forms and regulate the bureaucracy. we are talking real money there. if you want to reduce government this is the place to start. [applause] >> let's give a warm round of applause to all of our panelists for joining us this morning. thank you all. [applause]

>> the iowa for freedom campaign was about the most fun i've ever going to have on the campaign. the last time i was at a podium, it was vote no, but no, but no, which is appropriate since we are going to hammer home again obamacare in the repeal. this is one of the things we have to press our candidates about, how far are they willing to go to strip obamacare out? we are going to weld at -- welcome back to the stage betsy mccloy. she is credited with stopping hillary care in its tracks. [applause] and of course, no discussion on obamacare will be complete without the man in congress working absolutely the hardest and fighting the strongest to repeal obamacare, routes and all, congressman steve king.

[applause] >> thank you. on january 31, judge roger vinson a great american, declared this law and constitutional in its entirety null and void. [applause] we are on the way to victory here. this loss shreds your constitutional rights. it forces you to enroll in a one-size-fits-all government designed health plan whether you want it or not, whether you can afford it or not and it expands the powers of the irs to track down and penalize you if you fail to comply.

as the judge pointed out nothing in the u.s. constitution authorizes congress to force americans to buy any thing. worse yet, for the first time in history, this law empowers the government to actually dictate how doctors treat privately insured patients. even if you have etna are cigna are united healthcare or some other plan, the government is in charge of your care. here is right here. it says insurance companies can pay only those doctors who follow whatever dictates the secretary of health and human services imposes in the name of quality. that covers everything in medicine whether you are ob/gyn decides to do a caesarean section.

your medical treatments are going to be entered into a national electronic database. your doctors' decisions are going to be monitored. and your doctor is going to have to choose between doing what is right for you and staying in the government's good graces. you heard the president promised that he was going to solve the problem of the uninsured by making health insurance affordable. that is not what he did. you have gotten your premium increases in the mail. instead, he will put 31% of americans below age 65 into medicaid. 31% of americans on medicaid, imagine that. and to pay for that, there are $410 billion in new taxes in this law. in addition, they are now talking about that new tax the vanishing american tax. right? and worse yet this law pays to expand medicaid to nearly one

third of americans by eviscerating medicare. . . there was a time when people were stuck in will tears crippled with arthritis. this law will lower your standard of care. it puts governments in charge of your care and it takes away something as precious as life itself, your liberty. no wonder 28 states are challenging the constitutionality of this law.

december 12, 2010, when judge henry hudson of virginia responding to a lawsuit by that one state, declared this law unconstitutional. the very next month judge roger vinson went further. he not only declared mandatory health-insurance unconstitutional but he declared the whole law unenforceable. why? because the drafters of this bill had argued again and again that compulsion was essential to make this complex legislation work. complex legislation generally includes a boilerplate provision that says if one part is struck out, all the other parts will remain in force. that boilerplate provision was taken out so the judge turned that argument right back at them and said you had told me that without compulsory health insurance, this law will not

work. it must be like the precision watch. if one part does not work, the watch does not work. you are going to see it fall. i am delighted to be here with congressman king. [applause] the simple truth is this and it has been with us for over 200 years. our freedom can only last as long as we have a government of limited and enumerated powers. that is what this says. limited and enumerated powers, and that is exactly what we are fighting to achieve. thank you. [applause] >> i get all energized by being here. what a tremendous fighters we have in this country.

thanks betsy. [applause] i read the title and it said i am going to talk about the repeal of obamacare. i am not talking about repealing a component of it or minimizing the scope of its. i am talking about ripping the entire malignant tumor out of the routes before its swallows up our liberty. all of it. [applause] betsy wants to put this in the shredder and turn this into a 40-page bill. >> 20 pages. go to my website, 20 pages an honest bill. >> i want to hand this back and say shred it and put it back in the street. [laughter] [applause]

how do we get rid of it? i will quickly take you to the strategy that has unfolded. i mentioned it at the opening. i spent 18 months fighting obamacare. the first 18 months was seeking to kill the bill. a part of the process was calling for press conferences at the capitol building when tens of thousands of people came from every state in america to surround the capital and make it hard for anyone to get in or out. the rules committee could not function writing the rules that allow for them to do their legislative sleight of hand. on the day that obamacare past, he could not passed the house of representatives on its own merit. it was passed on a promise of two things. that it would be a reconciliation package from the

senate that would take some of -- that would take care of some of the concerns. all of that was part of the deal before it passed. the president of the united states taking an oath of office to protect the constitution and he thinks he can amend the statute by executive order. they fell for that bait. one person and that was a part of the vote was the congressman from illinois. he is no longer in the united states congress. [applause] da we do care about the constitution. if there is a road map to take america where we need to go, the underpinnings are right here. to know that someone has a ph.d. in constitutional history here analyzing this for us, it is outstanding. [applause]

a year ago we were just finishing up this process of the implementation of obamacare on america by the legislative sleight of hand. i was the last one to leave the capital that night. i was deeply troubled. i had gone into the mosh pit the tens of thousands of people who were out there. any one of them could of been here with all of us. the best people of america has to offer with the deepest convictions. they drove all night to be there to tell them take your hands off of my health care, off of my liberty, and adhere to the constitution. it was 1:30 in the morning and walked home. i was exhausted from a marathon of doing battle on this. i thought i would lay down and sleep.

i lay down and stopped about 2.5 hours and there will go, sat down at my computer, and i wrote up a bill draft request. they had that waiting when they open for business at 9:00 in the morning. the 40 words in summary say something to this effect. that to repeal obamacare in its entirety "as if it had never been enacted." i like those words. repeal it as if it had never been enacted. that bill draft came down within the three minutes of the bill draft of michele bachmann who i did not know was working on this task. within three minutes, the exact 40 words. we went to work on this. by midsummer it emerged that

the bill that i carried had a few more signatures so i filed a petition. i worked with a lot of other organizations on this. we got to 173 signatures. they laughed at us the first week. they were starting to sweat it at the end. it was a school that was used in the november 2 election and is credited with a number of house seats that we likely would not have won if they would not have used the petition. that is part of the strategy that got us here. it was a component of winning the majority, picking up 63 seats in the house of representatives and 87 freshman republicans. [applause] whom i have described many times as god's gift to america.

87 freshman republicans. they are they're helping on all of this. "pass the repeal of obamacare." i wanted it to be h.r. 1. it turned out to be h.r. 2. ok i am good with that. we passed the repeal of obamacare, send it to the senate where i believe we had a chance for it to pass in the senate but the political configurations were such that they did shoot it down. the house and senate has voted to repeal obamacare. everyone. [applause] in the next step, we need to shut off the funding to obamacare in every

appropriations bill that comes to the united states congress. there is not a dime of federal money that can be spent if the house says no. we need to hold our ground. we need spines. "you are not the kind of dr.." i am drawing a blank. it is the kind of stainless steel rod that the ball to york -- it is not a broomstick, it is stainless steel. everybody has to have a spine. we always knew we had to face down the president on this. this would come to a showdown with the president. if we send a message to the president that we are trying to craft legislation that he would sign, i would guarantee you this. the president is going to get everything he is willing to fight for.

my message is we have to look the president in the eye and tell him we are not going to fund obamacare. we are going to do it with the continuing resolution, and if the president vetoes such legislation, we need to tell the american people -- republicans have already demonstrated, we are going to find every aspect of government in a fiscally conservative way, and if the president vetoes that appropriation because my language is honest and cuts off the funding to obamacare if he does that, the american people will know that he trod a decision that his signature is more important to him than all the other functions of government combined. who do you think when that argument with the american people? we do. [applause]

there are some in the congress that say it was so carefully written and so smartly written that we cannot cut off funding in an appropriations bill to what they call as mandatory spending. so as we go through that argument yes, you can. i drafted the language. in the spring of 1974, the united states congress last language to shut off all funding to the vietnam war -- notwithstanding any other provision of law, no funds in this act shall be used to carry out offensive or defensive operations in the skies over the land overseas adjacent to vietnam or other countries. it shot off every dime. i disagree with the decision. now i am saying that language works to cut off funding for obamacare. [applause]

if a liberal congress can shot off a war with an amendment or language written into a continuing resolution, then we can shut off the funding to obamacare and language written into a continuing resolution, and that is what we must do, and send this message all across this land, that if we give up this point we do there are two leverage point. the continuing resolution necessary for the government to stay open, and the other one is the debt ceiling. this is the place for it to be, on the continuing resolution. the irony is if we use my language to shot off funding and the president decides they are going to shut down the government what happens? the lights go out at a lot of federal offices around the country. what keeps going?

obamacare. $23.6 billion available whether there is a shut down or there is not to fund the implementation of obamacare. so i am just asking you to send a message out across the land to every member of congress so they understand how important this is. you have to commit to stand with us. we have to challenge the president on this. if we do not come this insidious obamacare will continue to send its tentacles down into american liberty, and that is an unconstitutional taking of american liberties. thank you and i am ready for questions now. [applause] >> we do have a few minutes left to take some questions. i have to say, when i was asked

to introduce this panel i was told i would be given speakers to tell what they actually thought. [laughter] we have a question over here. >> [unintelligible] is up for reelection in 2012. would you be willing to run for the senate seat? i think we need somebody with a ph.d. on constitutional history in the united states senate. >> thank you. [applause] well it is very flattering to have my name floated around. we do need people in the united states congress and in the white house who understand the constitution, who are committed to the constitution, who know what it says, and live by it. we have a president right now

who does not. our major task is to replace him with someone who loves this document which has given us over 200 years of freedom and prosperity. [applause] >> we have a question over here. >> [inaudible] [laughter] >> my question is with the unconstitutionality of obamacare, this is probably going to end up, unless you are totally successful in what you are doing probably end up in the supreme court. we could pull this out. the obama administration has no desire to expedite anything. i contend and we should all pray for our justices, because if one should retire or pass away this thing really get bad.

so let's keep our justice is in place and make sure nobody decides to retire and no change can be made because then it could go 5-for the other way. that is my only comment something to keep in mind. >> that is an excellent comment. i think the swing vote will probably be with kennedy despite voting for big government on many issues, has shown a real passion for federalism. one of the things this law does is make state mere minions of the federal government. the whole law destroys the concept that we have a government -- a federal system with the central government that has limited and enumerated powers.

let's hope that andrew kennedy considers that in his decision. >> i think that is a good idea to pray for the u.s. supreme court justices. during the bush administration, i had a little prayer. i did not want to wish any ill will on anybody. [laughter] >> that is great. [laughter] >> oh, no. i would like to add this to the sentiment before it. these lower court rulings have given us more exposure to the fact that we need to get our good judges in it to begin with.

all of the courts matter. somehow, the mandate is constitutional because it is not inactivity, it is mental activity to choose not to purchase health care. that is just insane. >> it is very unfortunate that the media has distorted the judicial record so far. there have been five decisions in federal to show court and every single decision in which a state was challenging this health law, the decision went to the state. there were three cases very poorly argued and they should not be counted as equals. when you hear people on the news about the decisions that is not true. >> we have a question here. >> i have had those senior moment too.

you are looking for the term " vertebrate." we need more vertebrates in congress. [laughter] not in vertebrates. we definitely need a vertebrate in the white house. [applause] >> congressman november's election 63 new congressmen in the house. it changed the makeup of the senate in which the democrats did not have the big majority that they had before. over 600 senate and house representatives seats changed plates nationwide because we went forth and be elected. what are we going to have to do to convince leadership that we were serious and they better start acting on some of the things that you brought forth as well as others? how can we give them some backbone?

>>[laughter] [applause] >> i think you just send a message. i would add also that every time you can give a member of congress who is indecisive a personal experience, respectfully but if you can meet them and talk to them, that is the most powerful thing you can do. if you can talk to them on the phone and they can hear the conviction in your voice respectfully. if you can meet with their staff in their office. also on march 31, just around the corner, the tea party groups are going to converge on washington, d.c. they are going to insist the language that cuts off funding to obamacare is going to be written into the continuing resolution. your voice counts. when i look out and i see tens

of thousands of people there and the effort to cut funding for obamacare becomes as strong as the effort to fight it and kill it, i think then we get results. >> it kind of answer my question, but i am not a constituent. and i appreciate what you do. i have never been so frustrated with the representation i have. i contact them bimonthly and i get a formal letter back that is kind of sort of close to what i am trying to reiterate, but how do we get the message out to representatives who we are not constituents of? do you pay attention if i call you because i am not going to vote for you? >> i like to pay attention, but the staff load makes it such that there is a natural filter that goes in to some degree.

i would say if you can have influence with friends and relatives in those districts, i would ask them to get active also. we do have meetings with people outside the constituency. get the message through. sometimes, i am working around it too. >> when this vote was going on, i went to two offices and asked them if they had more people for or against and they had no idea. "well, we just do not know." >> another point that i think helps people to understand is if you take somebody on the other side of the aisle from where i am they build their political power base to the left. if they adhere to planned

parenthood tax years rather than pay years that is where their power base is. they are not going to listen as much to someone who believes in freedom, liberty and the constitution. we have to change them. i mean change their seat. they are never going to change. [laughter] >> i have one solution for the whole thing. ask president obama for his birth certificate. it seems like this never comes up. that bill would not matter to nothing because it would not be authorized. >> i wanted to say something about this.

there is something much bigger at stake here. when i saw the administration issued 1040 waivers for certain companies and unions, exempting them from the laws that the rest of us are zero billion that is a far greater danger. this administration has showed ignorance for the rule of law. a government that has the ability to grant a waiver has the ability to deny a waiver and destroy the business. we understand that no american should ever have to slither to the white house for an exemption. in this country, the rule of law is king. now mr. obama or anyone else that occupies the white house. that is what we have to protect above and beyond the debate over this health care law. >> we just have a couple of

minutes left. >> i live in 3rd district kansas. my congressman is one of those 63 who swept into congress but he is not one of the 54 standing with you. i see all these congressmen including you as people who speak for all of us. you represent the more than my own congressman does on this issue. would you let him know that he is being -- his people are here and work on it? the rest of you can call kevin also. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. >> i would trust that he has a google alert in his black. that will pop up in a few minutes.

-- in his blackberry. >> i would like to thank you for the flowers that are blooming in winter. they have been guiding us all along the right way for fighting obamacare. we are facing a very big liar and demoralized government. many people have been taking the progressive side because they are not aware of it. we cannot tell them any better because they chose the easy way. for example, they like to have more money for themselves or they are afraid to help. i am really glad we are here to fight back,.

we need to spread the word of people who have been intoxicated by the suppressive system. what we going to do about it? >>[applause] >> you know, i think we are doing something about it today. not only the people in this room who took time off to contribute to this, all of the people contributing to make this a successful day so far hopefully you walk out of here inspired. the people who are watching are also inspired. we never know who is going to be the spark that comes out of here who really launches something good. the road traveled would not have

happened if it would not have been someone who inspired me. i think this is a part of the process. see to it that we are not intoxicated by the progressives. we should be intoxicated by liberty. >> the comment by this latest? is a very serious one. some of the allies have become so widespread because he uses the engine of government to promote them. for example the medicare agency has sent out millions of fliers to medicare-eligible seniors claiming this lot saves medicare by reducing funding when in fact it takes the money out and put it into a different program, leaving seniors very vulnerable to lower quality

care. i remember when he talked about the early elements of this law going into effect and he said preventive care will now be free. it is not free. you have to pay up front in your premium for it whether you want it or not. these kinds of lies have done something to slow down the effort to get rid of obamacare. if everyone knew the truth there would be even fewer people supporting it. it is very disturbing to see the engines of government use it to deceive the public. [applause] >> thank you. we are out of time for this panel. i am sure it is not the last you will hear about this issue. >> there are three intense efforts to get rid of obamacare. one of them is the litigation that betsy has talked about. it is unconstitutional in four

different ways. let's do everything we can to mitigate our way back to the party in the constitution. we have to do everything we do, using the tools and our disposal, to get it appealed. of of of the state's out here, they have all kinds of wrenches that they can drop into the obamacare gears. they need to be doing that so they do not snatch this up and take over so many operations going on within the states. we can win this is the determination is out there like it is in this room. we can win this. i look forward to the day when we can say the end of obamacare. >> this is the fight of our lifetimes. we have to retake our government and protect our constitutional principles before they are lost

forever. [applause] >> thank you. betsy mccaughey congressman king. [cheers and applause] thank you. [applause] >> i am not interested in developing a strategy to win the primary and not be in position to win the job. i want to be able to go out and say we have done well everywhere. >> sunday, rick santorum sits down to discuss his life and a possible presidential bid in 2012 part of a series of interviews with potential gop candidates on c-span. >> up next, a forum focusing on women who are part of the middle east protest. then remarks by the iraqi ambassador to the united states. after that, panel on the impact

of the new media on the courts. >> tomorrow, washington reporters -- -- washington bureau chief for al jazeera arabic discusses the latest developments in military action against libya and the upheavals in other muslim countries. former united nations ambassador thomas pickering talks about potential diplomatic means to shorten the length of operations there. then we'll talk with reporters and state officials about the process of scheduling the 20100 -- 2012 presidential primaries and caucuses. "washington journal, live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> now go to new york city for that and the women in the world summit. you will hear from tina brown the editor in chief of "newsweek and the daily beast as well as face books chief

operating officer. there is a panel of women dissenters talking about women's rights in their countries. this portion is an hour. >> don't wait, just jump on it. do it, because there'll be no tomorrow. this is the time. [applause] >> thank you for that great warmup. i am tina brown. i am trail to welcome you to the second annual when men in the world -- i am thrilled to welcome you to the second annual women in the world summit. we are supposed to take out a

whole different insurance policy. it is a scary thing. major insurrections are happening. these are revolutionary days. the observable facts the amazing fact, at the exhilarating fax or the tv screens are showing us that women are at the forefront. the the role of women is hammering home the point that the treatment of women is the mark of a civilization and the respect for the human dignity of every individual.

in framing the issues in covering this summit, we have brought in all journalism deaths. so many of the people attending this summer have advanced the dignity and rights to women at personal risk. as a passionate activist said to me last week when she showed me her extraordinary photographs that she brought back up courageous women she did

it did in toronto, she said, "they know that you care." that is what we will show in the next few days. let me introduce my co-host each of them deeply committed to winning. please welcome sheryl sandberg. [applause] >> thank you. thank you for being with us. i wanted to start tonight by talking about why i am here. we are here because we believe that gender equality is the issue of our era. in the 19th century the central moral issue was slavery. in the 20th century it was totalitarianism.

in our century is oppression and injustice towards girls. some of us had the good fortune of being born in a country where we are equal citizens. we know that good fortune comes with the responsibility to help others. for some of us who had the fortune of not being born into countries where we are equal citizens under the law where there is no real opportunity for women, we are here because we prevail. we triumph over adversity and we share our stores with others. one woman lead as the -- that is a sex slave for 10 years. she has gone on to live a life of saving others from her state. she has dedicated herself day in and day out to saving others from the same fate that she faced. we are here because we believe.

we believe in ourselves and in our fellow human beings. we believe that justice will prevail over time because of justice has to prevail over time. we are here because we love. we love our doctors and our sons. we want this to be a better world for everyone where everyone has an opportunity to live a life worth living. most of all, we are here because we believe in action. we will spend two days together in your great stories. we are going to find deep inside ourselves not just the conviction, but the dedication to go home and do what we need to do to make the world a better place. thank you, tina. you are one of the only when i in the world who has the vision and leadership to bring us all together. we are all really grateful. [applause]

>> our next co-host, dr. ngozi okonjo-iweala -- the managing director of the world bank. welcome. [applause] >> thank you. my name this ngozi okonjo- iweala and i am from nigeria. my hero is from the world village in west africa. she is a martyr, a wife, and a worker. she also runs a small farm. women like her produce 8% of africa on street food. women like her are the best bouned of africa. -- the backbone of africa.

in kenya, there are efforts to bring water to 2 million people. in my country of nigeria they are the ones who transform process, and market the food. it was only last year that went for the first time in the country's history were given the right to own land. in the developing world, 1000 women die in childbirth everyday. more than 33 million young girls are still not in schools. i am here to say that is wrong. i know what it means to almost lose a child. that is why i care personally so much for each and every woman who is going through childbirth in the developing world. equality for women is essential for the world. this is smart economics. that is what we say at the world bank where i work.

that is why women like louise, the everyday women, are my heroes. i am delighted to support tina and the summit that brings these heroes and their stories into the spotlight. thank you, tina. [applause] >> dr. judith rogan, president of the rockefeller foundation. >> good evening, everyone. my hero is the story about one woman's compassion for the people in her community. she founded an organization that represented the slum dwellers of mumbai. unless you are counted, you do

not count. she organized the slum dwellers to tout themselves and empower them to ask mumbai or services for sanitation and for running water -- all of the things everyone in the world has the opportunity and privilege to have. she gave the poorest of the poor a collected and powerful voice. her work has rippled across the world. she heads a network of 26 organizations called slum dwellers international. they work in 70 cities. the network in 20 countries. they provide housing for thousands of families and household sanitation for hundreds of thousands more. the is sheila understands from this very simple beginning that you have to bring these great ideas to scale. you have to engage the right partners. her ability, with them and compassion has engaged world

leaders just as she engages the mothers and children on the streets of mumbai. when we convene for this extraordinary summit, i salute sheila as my hero, not for what she has done, but because she believes she has only just begun. thank you. [applause] >> my dear friend and partner in the summit, a board member for vital voices. she is behind the winning of courage tomorrow night at the un. >> all women are my heroes because all women are strong. tonight, i want to recognize a special woman, a special hero. her name is rebecca.

i met rebekah two years ago. she came to visit me. she told me all about her. she told me how she had to flee her village. she told me how she felt others and she also told me about the village and the community she created with other women and turned it into a village of artisans. i told her, "i have a village too, on the fourth floor." i took her to the design studio. together, we made some jewelry which i showed in my fashion show and sold in my shop. rebecca and i share the same space. i want to thank came up for making this possible. i think this is creating wonderful energy. i am humbled and happy to be here and i am happy to invite you all tomorrow night to the

un to celebrate my five women he rose at the awards. thank you. -- heroes at the awards. thank you. [applause] >> meryl streep was with us last year, but right now she is making a film about a woman who personified power -- margaret thatcher. she sends us a message wishing us three days of inspiration banshee hopefully will be with us again next year. i want to let my co-host take over and introduced our next special guest. thank you. [applause] >> mike bloomberg has made our beloved city a safer city, a greener city, a more educated

city, and maybe even a hipper city. he is a wonderful man and a great philanthropist. i am en route to and produced a man i respect, admire -- i am prowled to introduce a man i respect, i admire. michael bloomberg. [applause] >> good evening. thank you for those kind words. tina, i just wanted to congratulate you on the merger of newsweek with the daily beat. the result is a new endeavor that tina has named "news beat." i think that is a series of shows on the discovery channel, but that is something else. there are quite a few people sharing the spotlight of the issues of women.

tina profiles women all over the globe who are making a big difference and inspiring all of us to do better. i certainly see that in new york. our home is home to more than 4 million women. it is fair to say they probably do more than half of the work. at least, diana told me to say that. [laughter] i do not have to go very far to get a woman's respect -- perspective in city hall. i can ask any of my deputy mayors or i can call a number of my commissioners including the first female public schools chancellor of a major school system or i can't talk to anybody in our administration -- i can talk to anybody in our administration.

we have to make sure that people are picked on merit. if you pick people on merit, at least half of them will be women. the real criteria is talent. when we face a tough issue i need good advice. i call on another woman and that is my 102-year-old mother. after being on this planet for 102 years, you are an expert on every subject. those are the women in my world. there are so many more inspiring women. you hear some of their incredible stories. many of these when and are acting locally, but their impact is truly global. they are pioneers, revolutionaries, champions and we can all learn from them. that is why i am glad that tina is holding this event ny i am excited she is holding it here in new york city. the first discussion tonight centers on the courageous women making their voices heard in the

middle east. this session is called "firebrands." you will really enjoy it. tina, thank you for doing this. god bless you. [applause] >> i will never forget what i saw. wind and dragging their children along so they could witness. standing shoulder to shoulder with boys to fight for their cause. the volunteers to help with security day and night -- march 6, 2011 in benghazi, libya.

february 19, 2011 from cairo. it was amazing to see men and women together when they took to the streets. the square was the future of egypt. men and women fighting for freedom. now, we have to translate this into action and change. january 27, 2011 from tunisia. just look at how the tunisian women work side-by-side with tunisian men. they came out to protest. they came out in mini-skirts. it does not matter. they were there. march 6, 2011 from cairo and benghazi, libya.

this is on a personal level for every woman who participated -- it is an achievement. it is a stand for what you believe in. i think this will change us forever. [applause] [shouting] ♪ [chanting]

[applause] >> good evening. that was a wonderful video. my name is christina, and poor. -- my name this christiane amanpour. it is wonderful to have our first panel with these women from these incredible, energetic countries that have finally decided that enough is enough and have done what everyone has asked them to do -- stand up for freedom, stand up

to be counted take to the streets and say they will not live without the rights any longer. let me introduce our distinguished panelists and we will get to our conversation. next to me is an egyptian poet. she was doing that way before these uprisings began. she is fighting an end to the horrible practice of female genital mutilation as well as standing up for female rights in egypt. next to hurt this sussan tahmasebi, an iranian rights activist. she is working to and gender based discrimination in iran. she has won many awards for her work. next to her is a saudi arabian activist and writer.

she has lost several campaigns for women bought the rights in her area. she is committed to pursuing that. it is not an easy task in saudi arabia. next to her is the beloved and well-known founder of women to win an international. she has an incredible history from our own background that brought her to the united states and put her front and center of the international battle for women's rights. we all have been energized by what has happening -- but what has happened in egypt and before that, tunisia. you started before people started to take to the streets. what were you writing?

what was her poetry? >> i have been blogging since 2006 for the dream of having egypt a democracy. by democracy, i mean equal rights for all including muslims and non muslims including men and women. i fought for civil rights and individual rights. thank god we are seeing this happen right now. >> what was it about january 26 that put people into the streets? you had been blogging. one of the organizing principles was the death of a young man in alexandria. >> that is right. we never thought it would turn into something really big. we were protestors.

we came together and decided to go to the streets on january 25 to get the police a hard time. january 25 is an anniversary. we were angry at them for their systematic use of torture and their treatment of people in general. a few months ago, a young man 28-years old, was murdered by a policeman in alexandria by refusing [unintelligible] -- refusing to be searched, because he did not believe he was a criminal. 2 they grabbed them from a cafe and ask them for identification. they beat him to death. this moved everyone, including the people in the cyberworld. we decided we must speak out. >> it was this young man that was the tipping point for what happened in egypt.

his pictures were on all of the posters when we went to the square. in tunisia, before that, he was a young man who set himself on fire because of economic distress. what is behind the 1 million signatures campaign in iran? what is important about the signature in your activism? >> i think you probably know this, but perhaps the audience does not know this. we have achieved quite a bit. right now, young iranian women are more educated than their male counterparts. we have female doctors lawyers, businesswomen university professors. but in terms of the legal rights, their rights are not in line with their social gains. for example, men are allowed to practice polygamy. when men can have guardianship of their children. it is hard for them to get a

divorce. their testimony in court counts as half of the man's. in 2006, we started a campaign to try to address this disparity. our strategy was interesting because we engaged in dialogue with people, because we realized that cultural awareness is important, and we ask them to sign a petition said they can be agents in their home state and their own desire to create change. >> how were you able to do that? did you do that openly? in iran, 2006 was not as bad as post-2009. how were you able to do that? >> it was a peaceful approach. it was a civic approach. we wanted to give our signatures to the parliament. from the very start, we had problems. we were denied a space to hold our meetings.

we were denied spaces to hold our meetings all along, even the meetings in our homes were broken up. our members started getting arrested. >> did you get 1 million? >> no, we did not get 1 million. it has taken us a long time. we have done very creative things, none the less. >> what you said at the beginning is crucial. everybody looks at iran and many of these countries and know that women are oppressed. paradoxically, iran and other countries, women do have much more access to schools jobs, and many of the other things than before the islamic revolution. traditional families and never let the women out of the house when it was a mixed society and when it was a much more secular

society. now there are no morse excuses for keeping women at home. -- there are no more excuses for keeping women at home. it is the legal right that is needed to be regained. women really do not have those rights in iran. as bad as it is for women in iran, it is much worse for saudi arabia. if you cannot drive. you barely can work. things are changing, but in many areas of business, it is still not allowed. i want to show a video that you took, i think. did you take this video? it is about you and your friends. >> yes. it was me and my sister in law. she was taking the pictures and

i was driving. it was wednesday. -- and women's day. it was 2008. >> i want to play this so that you see this and realized that this piece of video was a massive act of defiance. >> [speaking arabic] >> she was driving with her sister on international when an's date. -- women apostate.

-- women's day. where were you? >> on the east coast. in the eastern province. >> i remember back in 1990 when we gather there before the first gulf war. a lady who had a shop where we went to buy things -- we were not actually -- we were calling the troops and getting ready for the war -- she called me before the war started and what may up. she said, "report what we have just done." she and her friends were driving in a parking lot of the supermarket. dust was so huge. it was 20 years ago. each and every one of them got severely penalized. their families were severely penalized. their husbands, brothers and relatives who were working were either fired or worse. it was a terrible situation.

that tiny act of driving in the parking lot, not outside on the street. you were outside. did anything happen to you? >> no. it was the desert area. it is illegal to drive outside the city limits. there was no problem. i thought they would go after me, but they did not. they are getting smarter. they do not want to get these ideas to be more world-known. >> when he watched in saudi arabia and see all of these protests happened in your part of the world -- many women taking part whether it is in egypt or tunisia, where it is happening -- will it ever happen in your homeland? >> it is happening. unfortunately, it is not getting enough coverage because it is saudi arabia. it is happening in the province where i live.

there were clashes. some people got injured. we are not really a quiet area. tomorrow is a big day for saudi arabia. they have already started a campaign on facebook. tomorrow -- it is going to happen in the capital city. i think that will affect the rest of the country. to see it only in our area they are going with iran or they have influence. i just want to say something about iran and saudi arabia. iran is really bad. the situation is bad for everybody. but this is one side of the coin. the other side is the darkest side. we lived in a very dark area. nobody knows about us. our stories have never been heard because we are very strong in terms of oil.

we support the west with the oil. also, it is the homeland of islam. even outside -- for me, i cannot be in any area outside because saudi arabia can stop any interview. they are very powerful. >> let me ask you -- we talk about the power of social media. i want to ask you -- the king has just come back from a long time abroad. he immediately gave $36 billion to various people to try to preempt any uprising. there are many people who say that they like can't, -- that they like him. we are not like tunisia and egypt and about to go rushing into the public square. arabia?

our people and patient or do they accept this very slow pace of social reform? >> became is a decent man. but if we have only one decent man fighting an army of corrected man. we cannot change that much. we had the young generation just like in iran. we have 20% of the graduates that are female. they have no jobs. most of the jobs are reserved for men. men are suffering from unemployment. the rich people are greedy. they always try to hire the cheapest people. they bring people from asia. that is why we have unemployment. this is one issue, but the new issue is we have no rights.

we cannot express our opinions. we have nothing for our young men and women anywhere to go. we do not have cinemas. we do not have spaces where people can gather. the only thing we have everywhere you go are mosques. that is not enough for people. it is not going to change anything unless you approve -- improve human rights in saudi arabia. >> everybody here knows gameela ismail for more organization. it is held nearly 300,000 when throughout the world emerged from port situations. not so many people know your personal story. it is unbelievably compelling. your father became saddam hussein's personal pilot in a rock. you grew up in a very bizarre

situation. you were forced to leave by your mother who thought she would be helping by putting you into an arranged marriage. tell us how that turned out. >> in a way, a lot of the american stories helped iraqi women. my woman -- my mother graduated from college in 1968. they were wearing skirts. they were working, earning their living. she was a very strong woman to make sure to tell me you had to be strong and independent. there is this woman who is very strong. she showed me i could be a strong woman. all of a sudden, they ask me to accept an arranged marriage. it was a secular educated family.

there were also going with this tradition. they both are parallel to each other. in my mother's case, she asked me to accept the arranged marriage -- it was the only medium for her to get me al of being very close to sit on the same. people utilize tradition that could be part of our own [unintelligible] -- of oppression. that is very much the story of my mother. >> do you have hope for the women of iraq today? >> the women in iraq -- you have a whole reverse situation. my mother's generation is still working. their doctors are the ones who are much more traditional -- their daughters are the ones

you're much more traditional. they are getting marriage at a young age -- married at a young age because of the economy. it is a country that went backward, not forward. right after the invasion of iraq, when they were very excited. we thought we would have equality and justice. they were not fully included in iraq. the first act of the government council, there were only three women. there are women in the parliament. that is an accomplishment. we are one of the few countries where women have equal citizenship rights. in most of the arab countries when they do not have equal citizenship. if i married a non era or a non iraqi, my children cannot have that citizenship. economically and socially, we went backwards. we did not go forward. that is the story of what is

happening today. the movements where women are in the streets and going into the streets next to men is not a unique moment. out -- women in algeria did it in the '60s. the moment where they also are -- the moment in which we have to stand still and say, "we actually want political representation this is happening easier. economic security. out of 128 countries surveyed, only 23 women equally. women won citizenship and family law. that is the story of iraq. they got something and they did not get a lot of it. >> units in egypt and the

constitutional commission. it does not have any women on it. that seems very controversial. >> we saw women stand side by side with men. even when men who did not get out of their houses, they are the same -- even when women who did not get out of their houses they are the same. they sent their sons and daughters. they knew that they might get killed. the future for women's rights in egypt is not really going to change. >> when i was there, i ask people if they left the square if mubarak step down and they left the square -- they said that what they have proven is that they will never leave the square. if we see something we do not like, we will go back out again. why are women not going back out

into the streets to protest? >> this brings reprisals from among the protestors. they were told to go back to their room. is not time to talk about women's rights now, and was very shocking. we had constitutional amendments already. no one cares to amend articles that are not fair to women like article no. 11. this article says that a woman cannot ignore her household activities for an outside job. she should leave the outside job. there are similar articles. it is horrible, actually. no one called for a change in these articles for the

constitution. when we offer pressure to my organization or some other group, they told us it is not time. democracy will not happen without women's rights. [applause] thank you. >> something extraordinary that i had not even thought of. you said that online activism was a real gift to women. in real life, you are looked at as a beautiful body or someone who works in the house. but online, you were gender neutral. >> exactly. i have written an article about discus. it won a very prestigious award. the article was describing the internet as a place for dealing with the minds of young muslim

women. in our communities, we are struggling between the rising religious tied and the rising patriotical mentality. the internet has started to be very common and widespread. this gives women the opportunity to express themselves freely. they write blogs. no one cares if you're still a man or a woman, it's either good or look bad. in the streets, they only care for what you look like. it has empowered women economically.

men and women in saudi arabia are not allowed to go to work and participate in public life. i have seen so many women go on to websites, making their own projects, and watching them on the social networks, and getting money and being independent. >> how wired our young people in saudi arabia? are women taking part? >> they are active. we are not well-connected. we do not have ways to go out and drive cars. we wait for a man to take us around. the internet has solved many problems for women. it has opened a new window. they can reach anybody anywhere in this world.

there is also a dark side of this. there are extremist invested in that. we have statistics that say that 40% of network connections are done by women from saudi arabia. there are good things and bad things. now we have two campaigns. one of them is for driving. at that time, i did not use facebook. now, a new generation of women are fighting for driving again. i tell them to go out and they like what they did. i posted a video clip. go and do that. it will have more of an effect. >> you make a direct appeal to the interior ministry. do you have any inkling that they may be ready to move on this driving issue? >> there are no signs, but sometimes they will open the

subject and let people talk. you hear about this and read about it. i do not know what is their plan. we have no idea if they are going to do it. but they have opened the subject again. it starts to open cases like this. >> so many people in this audience and around the world want to know what can be done to help women wherever it might be. what do you think, sussan, the united states should do? we had the state department who is keen on women's rights. people are looking at the situation in these countries. can the outside world do anything that is actually helpful to the went inside iran -- to the women inside iran. >> 50 of our members had been

arrested even though it is a peaceful campaign. grandmothers, mothers, young women, and even men. we have a lot of solidarity from organizations, especially based in the waist -- in the west. human rights organizations women's organizations, but also some organizations based in our region. it is really important. it is part of why and how people know about us. they know about the campaign. plus, also, the internet. i think we also need to stay in our region to get together. this is what i want to advocate for because women's issues are also -- are always brushed aside as a western concept. it is not islamic. you see in all these countries with very different

demographics, close countries -- women are advocating for their rights. they are just like women in other countries, the u.s., and the west. they are not different. they want equal rights. we need a space to get together and to strategize and figure out how to work together and make this issue of women's rights and indigenous issue. when we are attacked and arrested in iran, it is great when we get petitions from other countries. would it not be great if we got petitions from saudi arabia? we support our sisters in tunisia. we are supporting our sisters in egypt. it would be great if we shared strategies without to deal with -- when we come under attack and how to deal with solidarity. >> does your organization have

any thoughts on how to help? >> there is a bigger and there is a smaller. the dali lama said you could not help someone if you did not respect them. on the middle eastern perspective, particularly the issues of women, the basic act is respect and not to generalize whether we cover our share or whatever it is that we do. it is really complex. many women are choosing that. how can we actually go about it in a respectable way? it is a very defensive part of the world. how can we go about it from a respected standpoint and not patronizing? the second one is from a political perspective. it is very important for america and europe and the world

to prioritize women's rights as a policy. in my opinion, women are implicated for the direction of society. we cannot look at the muslim issue. secretary clinton really makes the point over and over again. we have to be consistent in how we can do much more. it is not only -- it is incorporating women in all sectors of the economy. >> there is nothing more powerful than the personal connection. we ask every single woman from around the world to sponsor one woman at a time by giving $27 a month and exchanging pictures with her. in iraq, we met with one woman. she said, "pike place rosewater -- i place rosewater."

we use it in religious ceremonies and marriages. she is an american. she exchanged letters with me. she tells me about her life. she is my sister. there is nothing at the end of the day in the act of helping each other -- it is a very personal connection that we are both sharing. when i work on different issues in the country, we use the story of a american woman who was domestically violated. iraqi women always say, "really? it happens in america?" how do we have -- we help each other by building bridges of communication. it is a global issue. in our part of the world we have a long way to go. we are working on it. how do we support each other?

>> for international organizations, we have one policy. women are not allowed to leave home. if a woman was to go somewhere she has to get permission. the permission comes from the mail guardian. a saudi arabian -- an organization came to saudi arabia a few years ago to help change the laws. we have businesswomen coming to the country. they allow them to go out without permission. that is because [unintelligible] the second thing that is going to happen -- education is not allow for women in saudi arabia.

only in private schools on a very small scale. the olympics have this policy that if you do not have females on your team, you cannot participate. now we've started to discuss this. they will open a club for females to practice physical education. even international situations can affect our country's policies. >> that is amazing. collapsed economic arguments always win. in iraq, always meeting with a shiek. i had very short hair. it was not a good scenario.

it was really bad. [laughter] what we are trying to do is help win and get jobs. you -- women get jobs. you have a million widows in iraq. this very conservative man was saying that women were like a broken wing to a bird and a bird cannot fly with a broken wing. what i am trying to say is that the economic argument is always a when. it is a reality back home. when there is a huge level of unemployment and frustration with low wages, there is a much more potential for of -- for openness. >> we spoke a little bit about some of the disappointments in

the square for women. many people are looking at these uprisings and saying, "we hope this does not become like iran." they want to bring in some kind of democracy and the -- and then be condemned. do you have that fear in egypt? do you think that what is happening there could slide back into something as bad or worse than the tactics of what you overthrew? >> one possible scenario is very possible from my own opinion. we started to get training for young people in the provinces.

we made rules about the use of force. the muslim state or the islamic states like iran or saudi arabia were the use of force for several rebel states. [unintelligible] all the time people are very religious. egyptians are religious by nature. whenever you make anything to as long -- islam, they will accept it. >> explain the power of the muslim brotherhood in context of what you say? are they as powerful as some people fear? >> the muslim brotherhood are very popular in egypt. they are usually organized to

practice these issues. that is what they are popular among the people. actually, this is not reflected in political life. people are fully aware of the difference between what we would like to see and this religious privacy that is rising. i completely disagree with people they say that maybe because of the muslim brotherhood, they may lead in the near future. >> last quick questions to the remaining three -- sussan what are women in iran telling you now about what they are sitting around their region and how they feel they may be able to turn this into something for

themselves? >> i want to comment on the economic issue. when we go and talk to people, even very religious people we talk about women's rights. they see us doing so well. people in power are rarely moved when you talk about their mothers or their sisters. when you talk about their daughters, they want to have rights for their daughters. they want to ensure that their daughters do well. they see this dichotomy. with what is happening in egypt it could very well slide back. you have a government where women do not have their rights. i think legal guarantees are absolutely critical. this is the moment that egyptian women and egyptians need to seize. to ensure that women benefit from equal rights -- women's

writes for him -- are human rights. you cannot bargain them away. if you have any influence, this is not where you should bargain away. we are going to be watching all over the world to see how the international community deals with this. >> we will give you the final word. 30 seconds -- what do you hope to see from these uprisings? how'd you think they will affect women in saudi arabia? >> i think they will affect them all lot. they want women to come to the front row in the demonstrations. that will protect the men in the back. but with the plan for tomorrow. [laughter] >> we will see the next face tomorrow. ladies, thank you so much. [applause]

>> also, charlie rose talked with melinda gates about the works of the gate as a foundation to the gates foundation, which worked with vaccines and the funding for humanitarian causes. this is just over 15 minutes. >> bill in melinda are always trying to get a sense of where and how the foundation can make a difference. it is always been about global

health and education and vaccines. recently you saw a major $1.5 billion donation to the question of childbirth and infant mortality and women's health issues. on wednesday, you had a meeting with secretary clinton talking about a new initiative there. tell me what the problem is, what the foundation is doing and the difficulties we are facing? >> there are so many women who die of maternal death in childbirth, which are inexcusable. 358,000 die of a maternal deaths every year. we lose 8 million children under the age of five every year. 3 million of those are in that first year, the first 28 days. for a long time in global health that piece of the puzzle

we could not fault. these issues are completely and totally our inner light. if you think about a child's health, it is related to a woman's health. you think about the mother's health, it is related to the child's. if you want to live up a community, you have to lift up both of those things. the foundation early on started in reproductive health. we let them work for a while and have come in very strongly in the last 18 months, but we started in childhood vaccines because that is a miracle technology. we're learning how to bring down the deaths of children under 5 years old. there were not tackling that first we the eight days. we're really tackling those maternal and child deaths. >> what can you do? >> incredibly simple things.

we just had an amazing research finding they came out in india. we believe that breast-feeding was an important thing for a woman to do. it turns out as fundamental. if she breast feeds right away and continues she perks up the baby's immune system and keeps it from getting infections. some of those diseases that they die by the way from are getting cold are getting an infection. breast feeding we were able to prove this, it reduces that death rate by over 50%. we need a different kind of technological innovation. it is a cultural innovation -- teaching women how to do the culturally appropriate thing. when you teach them in a way that is respectful to their culture, they will take those

practices, whether breast- feeding are keeping the baby warm. those things would change the death rate of those 3 million children. >> you have to find a way to deliver it and for the culture to understand and appreciate it. >> absolutely. in our country we know that keeping that cord claim is very important. otherwise you can introduce disease very easily. a lot of european health-care workers tried to explain this to women and they were not getting it. but finally said to the women they were taking it out, can you explain that? you are explaining it wrong. we will tell you how did it. you get to loaves of bread and you put them in the sun. if you put oil on one it will stay moist. that is what you do with the

cord. then the women knew what to do. something about that social change, that behavior change, i am really interested in this piece of the puzzle. i am interested in the science the vaccines have allowed us to get the death rate down. 20 million children around the time i was in the 1960's, they used to die under the age of five. that is down to 1.8 million children. that is still too many. we need to figure out the first 28 days peace. >> in 2010, it is said that it is not that the world as i know how to save the mother's and the newborn to die every year, it is that we have not tried hard enough. >> absolutely. we live in a day and age where in our culture we take for granted that you take your job to get the routine

immunizations. the doctor and nurse tells you the schedule and you bring them in. but that biology, that biotechnology, that is a miracle technology. we do not think about polio much anymore in this country. we do not think about smallpox that has been eradicated. but we were stunned to see that there was a 15-20 year lag on when we get a vaccine in the united states and the u.k., and then out into the developing world. we have partnered with many people to get that lag down to a one-year to two years. sometimes it can be simultaneous when it comes out here and in the developing world. with the right strains for the developing world the makes a huge difference in a disease like pneumonia which killed over 2 million children a year. you have to have the right strains for kenya. i was just there in late january, because they are rolling out a pneumonia vaccine.

that is only a few months after it came out in the u.s. >> you are just in kenya and you are around the world. you find that there are responses from the government that they welcome you, because they know that you have come there to make a difference for their population? or do you have to make the cell? yes, we're from a global foundation. we're here to make a difference. >> we are usually welcomed by the government. there are a whole host of problems which are not in our purview. and they say stay at a couple of weeks and we will show you a lot? >> people understand that the premise of the foundation is that all lives, no matter where they are lived on the planet, all lives have equal value. if you want to help the mother, when i talk to women in the developing world, which i do a lot it keeps me close to the

work they talk eloquently about the life of their child. in the last panel that talked about the right that men do not think about the rights for their sisters or their mother, but their daughters. women and men want something better for their children. just like here. they want to be but the those children and put them in the schools. if you give them the tools to help keep that child alive or to plan the spacing of the birth of their children so that they can be won before they have another it makes enormous difference in what they can do for their family and in terms of feeding and educating their children and planning for a better future. >> what is the most difficult thing about your job? >> problem with the heartbreak. when you go the the developing world, i am so touched by the women. how lawson -- how often sit down

with them on the floor over rural hospital, and it is their home, just like we would do there, sitting on a map. you say, i could have been born in this circumstance. there is the reason i was born in the united states and not in one of these other places in the world. you think about all linked to which you would go to to keep your child alive. it is heartbreaking what these women go through. one of the things i learned really early in the work the first trip i ever took in the developing world other than one trip that bill and i took together, which was a safari. the first trip i took on my own a troubled with a ph.d. in researchers from johns hopkins we traveled all over. she said to me, if you are in this circumstance of these women, would you do?

the uc what opportunities these women have or do not have? what would you do in these circumstances? i had to think about it and i said i do not know. she said, a tune know what i would do? she said, a prostitute. this is a researcher at johns hopkins. but the more you think about her question in her answers you realize that a mother will go to any length to put food in her child's belly. that is why we see this huge hiv problem around the world. most women do not have a chance. they are standing in the back of our because there has been is not bringing anything home or they do not have a husband. think about the first sexual encounter for a woman, one-third of the more abusive. in the developing world. whenever i go to the developing world, i tried to put myself in that woman's shoes and said what

what i want to come if a western woman could come in and help me, " what i won in that circumstance? even though i experience the heartbreak, high always know that i can leave which is nothing like the circumstances these women are in. just in kenya, one of the funds in nairobi talking one woman she has two beautiful girls. how many children you have? she said, four. where the other to chris remark she said, i lost both of them. my husband recently left me because i cannot have any voice. i was going to invite you to my home but i just got thrown out of bed by the slumlord and i am now looking for another home. what you do for work? i stood out on the street and i wait to do someone's laundry if it comes by. those of the circumstances we're

dealing with in the developing world. >> it sounds like the hands-on opportunity to meet and talk to people makes a difference in how you see the responsibility of the foundation. >> absolutely. when i go back in the building of the foundation -- and was just meeting with a host of partners in d.c. -- you always carry that with you. what you have the intense scientific debates about the vaccine, the latest technology, making the right strains, very intellectual debates you hear in your heart why you are doing that word. cutting the price in half of a vaccine, i get to give it to two children instead of one. i try to remind that to the foundation staff constantly. we do the intellectual rigor but it is very implored to remember why we do the work. it is to give people a